Delcam has launched its integrated CAM system for Solidworks at the Solidworks World 2010 exhibition in Anaheim, California. The initial version of Delcam for Solidworks includes the company's technology for drilling and two- through five-axis milling. The company said future releases will cover the full range of machining operations, including turning, mill-turn and wire EDM. Delcam for Solidworks combines the benefits associated with Delcam's Powermill and FeatureCAM CAM systems. It is based on Delcam's proven machining algorithms.For example, the software will offer Powermill's speed of toolpath calculation plus strategies for high-speed machining, including trochoidal roughing, spiral finishing and Delcam's patented race-line machining technique. These strategies are claimed to ensure increased productivity, maximum tool life and immaculate surface finish, even when cutting challenging materials. At the same time, Delcam for Solidworks will have the same focus on ease-of-use as FeatureCAM, including all of the knowledge-based automation. The software will include FeatureCAM's automatic feature recognition system, which automatically extracts detailed feature information from the Solidworks model.
The system recognises holes and pockets within the model and groups similar holes by size and type automatically. It indentifies all the detail within the model, such as draft on pocket walls and any fillets or chamfers within the pocket. Once the features have been identified, Delcam for Solidworks undertakes automatic selection of cutting tools, machining strategies, and feeds and speeds, to complete the programming operation. Delcam for Solidworks will be fully integrated into the Solidworks environment so that the program looks and behaves like Solidworks.
It will offer full associativity so that any changes in the CAD model will be reflected automatically in the toolpaths. Delcam for Solidworks will not simply modify existing toolpaths but will also review the choice of cutting tools and machining strategies, and change them if necessary. All toolpaths generated with Delcam for Solidworks can be checked by the integrated simulation module on the computer before being passed to the machine tool. Finally, the software comes with Delcam's full range of post-processors to allow fast and accurate data transfer to all leading types of machining equipment.
